Idea Of Unanimous Consent In The Senate

All legislative issues shall be voted on with a Four-Fifths (80% Vote) decision to be passed or rejected.

The main duty of the senator’s job is to represent the people living in his or her state in the United States Senate, by representing the people they have the power to write laws and be able to vote for or against it. This forms of laws are called bills.

While in session, a special committee of five Democrats and five Republicans was established to oversee the creation of a new cloture rule for the Senate. On March 8, 1917, the committee presented its compromise. The compromise called for a rule that would permit cloture on any measure. To obtain it, however, one needed the support of two-thirds of all senators “present and voting.” Despite the new rule, cloture was rarely used

The majority party is not able to be as powerful with their choices and ideology as they want. This allows for all parties and hopefully all of the population a rather equal representation in the government. It works as a check and balance to the House of Representatives who has overruled the use of the filibuster. The reason being that a bill passed by the House must also go through the Senate. The filibuster is a tool not to just be thrown around lightly by the minority party ,however, because at some point on down the line they will be the majority party and it could come back to hurt them. A lot of the time an actual filibuster does not have to be used by the minority however. The threat of the filibuster is sometimes enough to get the job done.

In 1789, the Senate and House of Representatives ordered a rule where only a majority vote was needed to conclude a debate. Although the House of Representatives kept that rule, the Senate got rid of it in 1806 without replacing it with another. This soon led to the opening idea of a filibuster. The initial purpose for a filibuster was to ensure that the minority opinions were apprehended and understood. Currently, some people still regard the filibuster as a strategy to protect the right of free speech and minorities.

Firstly the members of congress, executive branch, or members of outside community draw up a bill. After that the members of the house only will have to introduce the bill on the floor of house of representative. Then the bill is sent to the committee. Only bills that are necessary and reasonably appropriate make it to the next step, which is the rules of a committee for debate. Then it goes back to the floor of the house for a debate and members of the house then will vote for the bill. If the bill is in favor by most of the members of the house, hence the bill is sent to the senate. The senator introduces the bill on the floor. If the majority of the committees agree then the bill goes to the entire senate to consider the bill. As it follows the same process of the house, there is a debate and if majority votes for the bill then the bill is returned back to the house of representative.

When the treaty arrived from France; the Jefferson requested that Congress convene at the earliest day practicable for its ratification and execution. The Federalists in both houses declaimed and voted against it, but they were now so reduced in numbers as to be incapable of serious opposition. The question on its ratification in the Senate was decided by twenty-four to

Filibusters are quite the conundrum, a pariah of sorts in the realm of U.S. politics, yet an integral part of our body of government. It is imperative that it remains to be kept alive in a warm embrace with the Senate, lest it is reduced to nothing more than a mere accessory to the House of Representatives. By nature, the filibuster is actually a resourceful tactic that utilizes the ideology of free speech to prolong and create an active dialog over legislation or to prevent a measure from being brought to a vote. However, in recent years the most unsettling adversity contemporary legislation faces is Rule XXII of the U.S. Senate. Forty-one senators can veto the lion's share of legislation by refusal of invoking cloture (sixty being the magic number). Due to the malapportionment of the Senate, less than forty-one percent of the population could be over represented, resulting in a conflicting vote against cloture sustaining debate indefinitely.

For this proposed bill to be passed, it is based on a majority of votes in both the house of Representatives and by the senate. For example, if there is an organization in a school and a particular individual of the organization wants to make a change to the current lunch menu being provided to students, the individual will not be able to make a change alone. If the organization has over 20 individuals most will have to agree that the proposed change to the menu will either be beneficial or not beneficial. This individual wanting to make the change

Thus, Members of the House may only speak on a bill in the time mandated by the House Rules Committee vis-à-vis their judgments for that particular bill. It is also possible for the House to meet as the Committee of the Whole, which has more streamlined debating rules – though the Committee of the Whole cannot pass a bill. The Senate debate rules differ with the debate rules of the House of Representatives, as Senators have an unlimited time to debate bills – this lack of limit allows a filibuster to occur. The course materials state, “Debate can be closed by unanimous consent, or by invoking ‘cloture,’ which requires a three-fifths majority (at least 60 votes) of the entire Senate” (Unit 3 the Congress, 10). Once a bill passes through the House of Representatives, or the Senate, it must pass through the other chamber of Congress before it becomes law.

Most bills must have simple majority to pass. At this point of development, the process is especially exemplary because the bill in the Senate is now considered by debate to better illustrate its strengths and/or weaknesses. To summarize, the bill has now been passed by both houses of congress.

Once it is at the Senate it goes through the same process had as the House of Representatives, a section of the Senate members go and decide and add their changes to the bill, or decline it. If passed it goes to the next part to the rest of the Senate, who then take their turns adjusting and changing or declining the bill. Then after the whole Senate has review and changed the bill of necessary is goes back to the House of Representatives, who then look over if they like the changes the Senate made to the bill. If the House of Reps find things they do not like, then it is not declined, but goes to a Conference Committee making up parts of the Senate, and parts of the House of Representatives their

10. Voting: After the debate and the approval of any amendments, the bill is passed or defeated by the members voting. Congresspersons do not have to vote, or even be in the room during the vote.

Now that the bill has been passed through the House, it is ready to go through the proceedings of the Senate. First, the bill is again introduced but now by a senator who must be recognized by the presiding officer and announce the introduction of the bill. A bill that has passed either house of congress is sometimes called an act, but the term usually means legislation that has passed both houses and become a law. Secondly, the Vice President of the US, who is the presiding officer of the Senate, assigns the proposed law to a committee for further study ( the Senate has about 15 standing committees). The committees or one of its subcommittees studies the bill and may hold hearings. The committee may approve the bill as is, revise the bill, or table the bill. Now the bill goes to the Senate to await its turn on the Senate floor. Normally the bill is considered as introduced unless the bill is urgent in which case the leaders of the majority party might push it ahead. At this time the Senate considers the bill. Here senators can debate a bill indefinitely, unless voted otherwise. When there is no further discussion, the Senate votes. Most bills must have simple majority to pass. At this point of development, the process is especially exemplary because the bill in the Senate is now considered by debate to better illustrate its strengths and/or weaknesses. To summarize, the bill has now been passed by both houses of congress.

But the bill can also be brought to the floor if a large amount of the Senate chooses it to. Then there is the debate, The Committee of the Whole debates and amends the bill, but they can not pass it. They will decide how much time each person will get to debate the bill. The bill will then go back to the house to be voted on; there must be two hundred and eighteen members present to have a final vote. If for some reason there is not enough members the House will be adjourned or the Sergeant at Arms will go get them.